Day 224: The Sweetest Sounds

After such a long day on Wednesday, I was happy to sleep in a little yesterday. Mr. FixIt, being ever the early bird, was up long before me and I had what the Brits call a “lie in”. I stretched and read a little and gazed out the bedroom window at the cerulean sky. Suddenly, I heard the little tinkle of the bell on the cat’s collar as she jumped up onto the exterior window sill. She sat there and tweedled and chirped and sang me her “hello kitty” love song to start my day. I raised my phone, flipped the camera, and there she was…this little black cat that popped into our lives last Halloween. She’s a pistol. I could hear her purring as soon as I started talking to her.

I really didn’t want a cat. I didn’t want any pets. Mr. FixIt is enough for me to keep up with and we love to drop what we’re doing and go, go, go. The last thing in the world I wanted was something that would interfere with that. But, when I got back from my sojourn last fall in the raffle camper, I came face to face with this little black fluff ball that came running to me like… “It’s YOU! I’ve been waiting FOREVER!” I turned to my husband and said, “D*** you.” And we both laughed.

Then, he had two strokes. And life slowed down for a while. We were worried. We didn’t know what the future would look like. Mr. FixIt needed something joyful to look forward to just like I did after Mr. Virgo died. I bought a camper. Mr. FixIt got a cat. Every day, he walks out to the building in the mornings to let the kitty out. Whenever he goes out to work, the kitty follows him like a puppy dog. He greets her with “What’s a pretty kitty doin’, huh?” She melts into a puddle on the sidewalk…rolling and stretching and chirping at him. Pretty soon, he picks her up for a little snuggle and a scratch behind the ears and a kiss on top of the head. That’s when I realized…God sent this little kitty to us. We had no idea where she came from. We had no idea we needed her as much as she needed us. It softens my heart when he announces he’s going out to put the cat to bed for the night. He asks her if she wants a treat and he either picks her up and carries her out or she makes a beeline for the building. He shakes out a few little yummies and puts them on top of her food, turns on her light, then tells her goodnight.

We all need to feel needed. A man and his cat…needing each other through the tough times.

❤️